Monthly Archives: April 2012

I remember when I first saw organic salad mix being sold at Costco. I thought to myself, “This country has arrived; we are moving towards being greener, and lo’ the planet shall be healed!” Today shopping through Costco or any store for that matter, you can easily find a product that is “reusable, recycled, 100% natural, organic, or plant based.” It’s remarkable how the mainstream has caught onto the environmental movement and how consumers are embracing it!

Everyday we make choices that impact the health of our planet. We can begin with the choices we make in our home, including how we clean it, decorate it, furnish it, what we do with our waste, etc. By making a few (or a lot of) tweaks, you and your family can contribute greatly to the healing and regeneration of the earth.

Easy: Cleaning

Bar Keeper’s Friend: An old-time, soft cleanser that uses rhubarb powder as its active ingredient to cut grease and grime. It cleans glass stovetops, counters, toilets, porcelain and more

Lemon oil: Shine-up bathroom tiles and prevent mildew

Denture tablets: Drop a tablet into the toilet for a half hour or over night and that pesky ring inside the commode should come off with just a light swish of a brush

Wet pumice stone: By far the best oven cleaner and much more gentle than a harsh chemical on you and on the planet

Vinegar and water: An excellent deodorizer especially for a not-so-fresh bathroom. Just spray the shower once you have finished showering and the odors are absorbed within an hour

Going Deeper: Materials

Food waste: Anything that is not derived from an animal, save for egg shells, can go into a compost bin. You can have a little can by your sink for vegetable scraps, coffee filters, hair from your brush, and even dryer lint. You can collect the compost and then have a bin outside for your garden or find out if there is a community compost where you contribute your scraps for the greater good

Re-using resealable bags: They’re great; they take up very little space in the fridge or in a lunch box and you can even write on them. The press and seal bags can be washed and dried many times allowing you to reuse a box of them for a long time

Fibers/Fabrics: Choosing eco-friendly fabrics such as bamboo, hemp, or recycled plastic the next time you consider purchasing clothing, blankets, linens, or towels

Waist Deep: Hard core

We have friends that live in Key Largo in a tree house. We love visiting them because they designed their house so one actually feels that they are living in a tree. They did this not only for the sensation but for catching the cross breezes as they chose not to have air conditioning. They also have a Clivus composting toilet that never ceases to lose its novelty. The house is raised on stilts and because of this, they were able to install a composting toilet. There are no flush levers on Clivus toilets, you just “go” and so does “it.” “It” drops into a very large composter downstairs, in this case in the car port, and once in a while, our friends have to add a pinch of this or that to help the waste break down but otherwise, there is absolutely no smell and no wasted water. Anything that would normally be composted can just be “flushed” down the toilet! The kids love it!

Building supplies: Yes, it’s true, you can have an entire house that is green. There is even a “Green Depot” on line at www.greendepot.com

Using environmentally friendly services: From telephone and wireless service to green plumbers and beyond, you can find a company, local or otherwise that can offer virtually any business in a green alternative, visit www.greenhome.com/resources to find out about environmentally friendly carpet cleaning, painters, home cleaners, etc.

Want to live off the grid? Build a yert or a mansion or maybe you want to start off with a zero-carbon dog house? There are plans available at www.dreamgreenhomes.com. If you build one of these structures, please share your images!!

Whether you choose mild, medium, or spicy, your efforts make all the difference in the world, literally. What goes down your drain today, ultimately makes it way into the ocean at some point. The Earth is our home for just a little while and it is meant to be shared. Like a quintessential houseguest, treat our planet like you would another person’s home: gently, with kid gloves, and with loving care.

Enjoy this weekend of celebrating our home, the only one of its kind that we know of! Take pleasure in whatever weather your area has to offer and relish in the sun, rain, wind, snow, or cloudy skies. Take deep breaths of air and spend quality time out of doors exploring, looking, and being grateful for green space, water, soil, and clean breezes.

It’s startling but true. Right now, 32 percent of men and 34 percent of women are obese. Brandi Thompson, Registered Dietician says the percentage of children that are obese is about the same, “As far as kids, 30% of the population are obese. That is up from the teen percentages in the Seventies.”

With these types of numbers, it’s obvious that Americans need help. The population has been inundated with images of nutrition for decades: fruits and vegetables mostly and more recently whole grains and lean cuts of meat. I recall watching Saturday morning cartoons in the late Seventies and during commercials there were always PSA’s (public service announcements) for nutrition, in the form of cartoons of course.

Brandi relayed a story about a young woman she worked with. This was during Brandi’s early graduate work in nutrition. The young woman said that by eating a banana she was getting calcium, “It’s white,” she explained to Thompson, “If it’s white, it has calcium.” She had a misconception about what foods she was putting into her body and why.

A+B=C. Good nutrition plus exercise equals weight loss. It seems we all know this, but there is a disconnect. There are a couple of reasons to explain this disconnect. “Many people are confused by all the fad diets out there,” explains Thompson. “Fad diets may work in the short run,” says Thompson, “..but at the end of the day it’s about everything in moderation.” “One food, or one food group is not going to make you lose weight. You have to learn to balance your meals and portion size.” Low carbohydrate diets such as “The Cabbage Soup Diet,” etc. can help shed the pounds, but what happens afterwards? “Most often times..,” explains Thompson, “..people gain the weight and then some.”

People who are overweight or are obese usually figure it out themselves or are told by their doctor. Unfortunately, many folks skip going to the doctor because they don’t want to hear that they need to lose weight. For those who listen to doctor’s orders, however, a Registered Dietician can be a crucial part of your team.

When asked how RD’s can help people lose weight, Brandi Thompson, R.D. said this: “We can look at behavior and daily intake and help the patient come up with goals and change the way they eat; we teach them about how foods affect them and provide meal plans that are written together.” Thompson emphasized that meal plans should be a collaboration between an RD and patient. If, for example, a person does not like sweet potatoes and that is what has been written for him in his meal plan, his aptitude for following the meal plan goes down exponentially. “We can help guide people, educate them and listen to their eating habits for any psychological issues, in which case we can refer them to a mental health professional.” The most common reasons people say that they are overweight include eating at restaurants too frequently and not having enough time to make food at home, hence eating processed food. An R.D. will help a person come up with easy-to-follow strategies for making a transition to make healthier choices and lose weight.

Of course diet alone cannot help shed the pounds. Adding exercise to one’s efforts plays a major role in losing weight. “The more active a person is, the more calories they burn, the better they feel.” The level of activity (time, frequency, and intensity) will change as the person progresses in meeting her goals.

An excellent resource for those who are looking for healthly recipes, the science of weight loss, the benefits of weight loss, and more is the American Heart Association. In addition, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics is also helpful in creating meal plans, healthful eating and is a portal for finding a local Registered Dietician. Brandi Thomspon, R.D. also maintains a creative and educational website, www.abcdeatright.com, that can also be followed on Twitter: @abcdeatright1.

Proper nutrition, a healthy psychology for food, and moderation are key to a peaceful relationship between a human and food consumption. It begins as infants and continues throughout our lives. How we eat impacts not only how our children eat but how our friends eat. With chronic illnesses such as high blood pressure, Type II diabetes, heart disease and high cholesterol on the rise, it behooves a nation to examine their plate, look at what is in their hand as it enters the mouth, and spend more time in the perimeter of the supermarket rather than the inside. Changing the way you eat to a nutritionally balanced and well portioned diet will allow you to enjoy life, enjoy food, and enjoy health for a lifetime.

Have you lost a considerable amount of weight? Ever tried a fad diet and kept the weight off? Do you have a child at home who is overweight? If so, how are you coping with that? How often does your family go out to eat? Have you made a switch from eating at restaurants to eating more at home? If so, why? What have the results been? Please share your stories for people to reflect upon and connect. You can provide a recap of your experience on the blog at the JumpSport Facebook page or on Twitter: @FitTrampoline.

In this third installment focusing on nutrition in honor of National Nutrition Month, we are focusing on vegetarianism and vegan eating styles. Gone are the days of little incense smelling shops filled with flax flour, almond milk and miso and herald in the day of huge supermarkets that cater to vegetarians and vegans. I spoke with Registered Dietician, Brandi Thompson of ABCDEatRight.com about these types of eating. She shares the benefits of eating a plant-based diet but also cautions against becoming a vegetarian or vegan junk food junkie.

To begin, let us break down the terminology and define the differences between vegetarianism and veganism. First off, vegetarians come in several shades. There are lacto-vegetarians which means that they consume dairy products. There are also octo-vegetarians which describes a person who incorporates eggs into their diet. “Recently the new buzz word is “flexitarian,”” says Thomspon, “this type of eating is mostly plant-based with the occasional consumption of meat. 75% of their diet comes from plants.” Vegans on the other hand consume no animal by-products: flesh or otherwise, including honey.

Vegetarians and vegans have to be aware that they are getting a well-balanced diet. Lacto and ovo-vegetarians do not have to concern themselves so much with getting protein as those that do not eat meat at all. While greens can pack a protein punch, they pale in comparison to nuts, seeds, and beans. If a person is not consuming any animal products, they are urged to take a B12 supplement since B12 is found in animal products. A B12 supplement for children dissolves under their tongue.

Speaking of children, I asked Thompson about vegetarian and vegan children which include infants. Once again, she repeated a balanced diet of fruits and vegetables and protein either in the form of eggs, dairy, beans, nuts, or seeds must be dished out with diligence. Soy milks, almond milks, and rice milks tend to be fortified with calcium; be sure to check the label for this. As you may recall from the last blog entry, a body’s calcium stores begin in infancy and end around twenty years of age so it’s critical to make sure their bodies are getting enough calcium.

Thompson cautions again and again about people with these lifestyles (and as we will see in the next article on weight loss), that balance be incorporated into their eating habits. “You can be an obese vegetarian” she told me. “There are a lot of processed foods in vegetarian form; hot dogs, sausages, cereals.” Thompson advises, no matter what diet you follow, that eating whole fruits and vegetables, aka the ones you wash and cut up, are the highest quality nutrients and phytochemicals you can provide your body with.

With a steady rise of “Meatless Mondays,” “localvore-ism,” health food chains making headway into suburban and urban areas many people are beginning to consider or actually transition to a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle. When I asked Brandi about transitioning one’s diet she said, “Determine what your motivation is. Is it for health reasons? Giving up saturated fats [found in animal products]? Is it environmental? Does your motivation come from not wanting to consume animals?” Once you have a clear idea of what your motivation is, you can stick with your program. “There are books on becoming vegetarian or vegan, you can check out the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics or consult an R.D,” she laughs. Some patients Thompson has treated have as their motivation, or hidden motivation, weight loss. “Borderline eating disorders that are covered up by calling oneself a vegetarian.”

The most difficult part of being a vegetarian or a vegan according to Thomspon, R.D. is really the social aspect of it. She recalls an anecdote, telling me about her husband going out to lunch with a “bunch of the guys.” While they all ordered sandwiches he ordered a salad. He was “razzed” or teased by his coworkers, but he retorted confidently that he had become a vegetarian, “..for his health.” The other difficulty I myself have heard from many is the laborious nature of these diets since they are so intensely plant-and-fruit-based. There is definitely a lot of washing, peeling, cutting, and chopping, but in the end it brings a mindfulness to your food which reminds us of the articles I wrote on over-eating.

The benefits of following these types of diets, including “flexitarianism” is that they are more of a plant-based diet. “The focus is to get the nation to a more plant-based diet which is rich in fiber, phytochemicals, and nutrients.” By incorporating more fiber and getting the nutrients your body needs, one feels satiated. It is common for a person to feel better without saturated fats flowing through their systems. Generally a caloric restriction occurs because the fiber fills the stomach and a person eats less. Weight loss can be attributed to a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle and a reduction in chronic illnesses.

For more information, check out the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and subscribe to Brandi Thompson’s newsletter at www.abcdeatright.com. You can also follow her on Twitter @abcdeatright1. Keep learning and sharing what you learn and eventually Americans can reverse our reputation for being some of the sickest on the globe to the most vibrant and healthy.

Have you become a vegetarian or vegan? Were you ever one of these eating types? Are you a vegan or vegetarian parent? How do you feed your kids, what are their favorite meals? How do you entertain? When you go out, are you able to find vegetarian options readily available? Please share your experiences and be part of the story on the blog or on the JumpSport Fitness Trampoline Facebook page or follow JumpSport on Twitter @FitTrampoline.

Until then, my challenge to you is to go to the library and choose a vegetarian or vegan cookbook. Find a salad, a soup, a main course, a desert, and a snack that is of your liking and go make it! If you have kids, ask them to help. If that’s a bit too much, make it a “Meatless Monday!”